The Last Inu
by WC43
Summary: It turns out that there is more to being an Inu than meets the eye. Sesshoumaru is struggling with a curse, and Kagome wanders right into it. SessKag fluff, almost completely PWP. Lemon? Yes, indeed.


I am sugared up, and it's been a while (I should be working on translating My Immortal, but by god that is a depressing task.), so I'm gonna write y'all a story.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling and get to it.

(Warnings, I guess: Lemon, swearing, the usual. Clear off if you're going to be scarred for life, please.)

The Last Inu

A Tale of Little Plot and Much Fluff

By WC43

Inuyasha was not the only Inu prince who was cursed, he was simply the loudest. While he was changing into a human upon every new moon, and whining every minute, Sesshoumaru was struggling with something completely different. He didn't like to think about it, and he _certainly_ didn't like to discuss it, but he was undeniably and wretchedly cursed all the same.

Sesshoumaru would never admit it, of course, but sometimes he envied his brother's ability to carry on complaining about his problems. The stoic Lord of the West was not able to debase himself such, although he imagined it allowed great relief to run around kicking things and pouting. He could almost imagine the joy of sinking his fist into the ground repeatedly and calling whoever had slighted his dignity all sorts of rude, imbecilic names. He almost smiled at the thought, but, then again, Inu lords didn't smile. He reined himself back in. To even think of these things was foolish and juvenile, and he was the Lord. He would comport himself as such.

Dealing with this curse, he said to himself curtly, was part of his honor and duty as the lord of the land. He would simply bear on, once monthly succumbing to this terrible curse. As the last of the sun's rays disappeared from the edge of the moon, he would be utterly susceptible to the first female he encountered.

He did his best to avoid the wretched creatures, staying far away from roadways, ningen villages, and lesser demon colonies, but every month, as sure as the tides, he would encounter a female and be forced to chase her. If he had been in his usual state, he was sure, he would not be forced to chase them. Sesshoumaru was a catch by any standard, and he was confident he would excel at capturing female attentions if it was suitable to his station, but the monthly curse was more than just lust. His powers were dulled, his demonic features diluted, and his self control dissolved. He was, in essence, a very horny and very athletic human. One who _never_ got laid.

---

His father had explained this curse to him when he was young.

"Sesshoumaru," he had said. "When you grow to be an adult, there will be things you have to deal with."

"What things?" young Sesshoumaru had asked.

"I will tell you the story of the Inu curse:

"When your many times great grandfather was a young boy, the Inu clan was proud and strong. Our people were abundant and diverse, and we were renowned throughout the land for our fertility and power. Our women bore us many sons, and those sons went on to marry and have many sons of their own. We were a bountiful people.

"Soon, however, problems arose. The powerful youkai began to think about themselves as sources of power, and not as members of a group. They chose only the most powerful mates, and many battles were fought for the hand of a certain demoness. The weak females were killed to prevent them from diluting the bloodline, or tempting away a demon of higher stature. These remaining women had many sons, but only a few daughters survived.

"Eventually, it came to the point where there were only three Inu females left. They were all sisters, the only children of an aged pair of youkai of barely passable strength. These sisters were wise, and they could see what would happen if they allowed the men to have their way. Generations passed, and none of them would allow a male into their presence. They set up a barrier in a cave and hid, but one day they finally broached the subject of what to do.

"The weakest of the females wanted to select a mate and carry on the line. She believed that they could sacrifice their happiness and rebuild their clan, if only they made peace with the males and planned their children's marriages. They could be back to their prime, she claimed, in a matter of generations.

"The second strongest, on the other hand, wanted to flee, and search for other Inu in distant lands. She believed that they simply had to escape the men and their foolish ideas, and search for a place where they could rebuild in peace. Perhaps, she suggested, they could even deliver their story as a teaching to these other Inu, so that they would know what would injure them in the future.

"Only the third, the youngest and the most powerful, remained silent. She thought for days and days, mulling over their options. Finally, she came to a conclusion. They would put a spell upon their descendants. She had heard of an old magic, one where an Inu would be able to convert their chosen mate into a full-blooded demon. No one had used this power in decades, as the purity of blood had been such a focus, but she had heard that these demons would be powerful and true to the Inu form. They simply had to find a way to make sure the cold, proud Inu men would bow to their emotions.

"They plotted through the night, and into the next day. They continued plotting through that night, and the next. They plotted as days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. As months turned into years, the Inu men grew increasingly restless, fighting amongst themselves. As the sisters continued plotting," at this point the young Sesshoumaru had cleared his throat, for he was tiring of this story and the sisters' incessant plots, "the men continued battling, and when they emerged, there remained only one.

"The sisters had made their decision. They clapped their hands together and began to focus their youki. The remaining Inu stood in awe as they spun together, increasing in speed and energy until he could no longer bear the sight of them. He closed his eyes, but he could still see the bright light shining behind his eyelids. When the light flickered out, he opened his eyes. The two weaker sisters lay fallen behind their younger sibling, who now sparkled and shimmered with their combined energies. She looked up at the male, eyes glimmering with unshed tears.

"'We will continue our species,' she told him, 'but at a great cost. We will only have sons, and these sons will be cursed to search for love, continually questing until they can find the perfect mate. They will be unable to settle for power or beauty, but for a true adoration. They will be handicapped, brought to their knees by their own vanity. It will be painful for them, but it is the only way we can fix the wrongs you have done with your greed. Let us go, then, and begin this. My sisters did not sacrifice themselves for us to waste it. They sacrificed themselves to provide me with a son, who might have the chance to love as none of us were able to.'

"She bore him seven sons, each of which were truly fine specimens of Inu breeding. Each one was handsome, and powerful, and incredibly arrogant. They believed themselves to be above the curse of their mother, too strong and manly to fall victim to the words of women. Every month, however, they would succumb to the curse and be drawn to the nearest female, only to be rejected and scoffed at. Each brother tried harder than the last to convince any female to be his mate, but none could be persuaded to fall for such a foolish creature. Each of the first six died alone and unmated, but the seventh had a different strategy. He had seen his brothers make mistake after mistake, and he would not be fooled by his own temper. He released himself to his destiny, and began to walk. He walked west, headed into the lands we now call home, and come every new moon he would sit and wait. As his powers drained and his libido rose, he allowed the females of the world to close in on him. It was not long before a beautiful ookami stumbled upon him, startled by the remnants of a strong aura that crackled around what appeared to be simply a human. He opened his eyes and gazed upon her, and those eyes were filled with such desire that she couldn't bring herself to move from the spot. He did not approach her, chase her, or even speak; he simply gazed upon her with his green eyes glowing in the starlight. Somehow, she was drawn to the demi-human, and they mated there on the clovers of the forest floor. When they awoke, he had returned to his glorious Inu self, and she had been transformed into an Inu as well.

"Startled and angry, the female fled from her mate and into the forest. He chased her, unable to allow her to go now that he had found his mate. They chased and chased, never falling out of sight of each other, but never stopping either. He pursued her for weeks, and they simply lived as they ran, catching food as they went, letting the rain wash the filth from their skin. As the chase grew longer, he noticed a swelling in the curve of her waist, and then more. She was pregnant. He laughed triumphantly as he sped up his pursuit. When her time came, he stopped chasing her, and she stopped as well. Their baby was born on the forest floor, and it was a glorious child. He was strong already, and grew stronger as he aged. The Inu and his mate raised him well, and he went on to father my father's father."

"Your father's father?" enquired young Sesshoumaru. He had never been told of his grandfather, or of the grandfather before him.

"Yes," replied the elder Inu. "This is the story of my his birth, and mine, and it will be your fate, too. To chase the ones who do not want you, to desire those who are unfit."

"But father," questioned the young prince, looking deep into his lord's eyes, "I thought mother was an Inu princess already! How could that be, if this story was true?"

"Your mother," he said with a wistful look, "is not of the Inu clans of Nippon."

"But I thought the curse said…?"

"Never you mind that, Sesshoumaru," promised his father. "Just know what you are getting in to."

---

Looking back on this, Sesshoumaru realized that his father had thought he had been beating the curse when he had married another Inu. He had found an acceptable princess from another land, and married her just to defy his many greats grandmother. Even so, he had realized soon after that he would continue lusting after women. This was the reason for his infidelity, and the reason for his love for the bastard's mother. The beautiful demoness who had produced Sesshoumaru was simply a marriage of defiance, and the rut that had produced Inuyasha had been a tangle of cursed emotions. The ningen had not been changed because of his father's stupidity in mating a female who he did not love, leaving Inuyasha a half breed and both women alone.

And so, Sesshoumaru was left fatherless, motherless, and lusting after random women once monthly. Inuyasha simply turned human (Sesshoumaru had managed to divine that years ago, even with his brother being so "cautious"), due to his half-blooded nature, and Sesshoumaru was stuck with the full burden of their family's foolishness. Here he was, on the night of the new moon, waiting to find the woman of the night that would entice his senses and utterly reject him.

There were no Inu left in the Western lands, or even on the island as a whole, if his searches were right. He would have to endure this torture to save his species.

At times, he considered simply giving up and allowing the Inu breed to die off, clearing the world of this terrible curse, but he could not bring himself to sacrifice a species just for his own personal weakness. He bore his burden with dignity and pride. With the sad stories of his distant relatives at his back, he labored on.

Or so he told himself. He would still really have enjoyed punching a tree. He settled in his waiting spot to prepare for the evening.

---

As the new moon rose, nearly invisible against the night sky, Sesshoumaru felt his body begin its change. His features became more square, less canine and more masculine. His stripes and crescent faded into his skin with a tingling pop. His teeth dulled, and the constant sting of his venom ceased to be. His claws shortened, his hair darkened, and his eyes changed from gold to silvery gray. He braced himself for another long night of rejection. In all his years, he had never been able to even get a spark of interest out of a woman in this state, even though he knew he was not far from handsome, even in this state. He would never be able to defeat this curse.

When he heard the rustling of travelers on the road, he instantly attempted to perk his ears up. He hated human hearing. Thankfully, they seemed to be approaching, so he could soon hear the voices. A male voice rose loud enough to be heard:

"…why you need to go so often! This whole thing is your fault, anyway, but you keep leaving to go do whatever else! And tonight, too! How can you be so selfish?!"

Sesshoumaru found that a little bit harsh, but he supposed it could be deserved. He rather enjoyed listening to this drama, anyway. That was, until the second voice piped up. Female.

"SIT!" it shrieked, which he found strange. He heard thumping, and masculine cursing, and the whole situation seemed familiar, although he couldn't place it. Then he heard the footsteps crashing towards him, and the gravity of the situation suddenly registered in his mind. An angry female with a man in her company was storming in his direction. He would see her, and then her man would see them, and he would be most bothered to fight him off in this condition. It was not the first time the daiyoukai had had to deal with jealous males.

With amazing grace and speed for someone who was currently a mere human, he trotted through the forest and into a comfortable cave he had once located for just such an emergency. At least there, he could hide and wait until a less painful suitor appeared. He settled in the dark, wondering how long he could go without seeing a woman, and if the curse would last beyond the full moon if he didn't see one within that time. Come to think of it, had any of his relatives tried simply blindfolding themselves? Sesshoumaru thought this a brilliant idea. He removed his obi and wound it around his eyes; now rendered perfectly blind. He grinned, disregarding status for the moment. Removing his armor, Sesshoumaru settled in for the night. Perhaps there was a way he could deal with this, after all. And, even if not, he would take his time as a human and enjoy it.

---

The instant Kagome left camp, still steaming with anger, it began to rain. She veritably roared in frustration, pulling her poncho out of her backpack only to find it covered in the remnants of some sort of sticky treat of Shippou's. Tossing it to the ground, too angry to really care about leaving anachronistic garbage all over Japan, she stormed off into the forest. She was headed nowhere in particular, but she figured she would either find somewhere to be dry or wander in the rain until she was cooled down enough to go back to camp. Eventually, she stumbled across a small fissure in a rocky cliff, and she slipped inside. If there were animals in there, they'd just have to share.

She found it mercifully devoid of other creatures, and far larger than she had thought it would be, running back quite a ways and forming little rooms. She tramped back into the cave further, searching for somewhere comfortable. Her clothes dripped onto the floor, and her shoes squelched unpleasantly from the damp. She shivered. It was cold!

Suddenly, she saw what looked like the flickering of a fire around a bend. She hurried towards it, but stopped in her tracks when she arrived. It was not a fire, but the sparkling of a fleeting aura that was stronger than any she had ever seen. It was like watching a star sputter and die. At the center of it, she could see, was the dim form of a human man. He was not dying, she could tell, but this rush of energy had her completely confused. What was he, that he had that much power to lose? The sparkles were still flowing, and it made her dizzy. She slumped to her knees, then pitched forward, barely catching herself with her hands.

In an instant, there were strong arms surrounding her, pulling her up and towards a warm chest in a fumbling but caring manner. She shivered violently, and then her clothes were being removed without ceremony and replaced with a soft silk shirt, still warm from the previous owner. He drew her to his chest, tucking her hands against his neck and wrapping himself around her. Within minutes her chill had subsided, and she regained her full consciousness with her face pressed against the bare chest of a complete stranger.

'A completely _buff_ stranger!' offered her mind, but she cast that aside, struggling upright.

"I am so sorry!" she squeaked, stumbling out of his grasp and onto the stone floor. "I just… It was raining and I… and I saw the light.. and."

He cut her off with a laugh, which sounded rusty in his throat, but still made her bones tickle. "It is no fault of yours. If you do feel bad, however, we could arrange a trade?"

She jumped at the idea. "Of course!"

"I am currently… unable to make a fire. Do you have the means to do so?"

Nodding excitedly, Kagome pulled her supplies out of her bag. She excused herself and ventured out into the cave, eventually finding some dry wood that had been deposited by some long-ago flood. Quickly and efficiently, she soon had a fire roaring in front of them. Looking up triumphantly, she came eye-to-eye with a blindfolded face.

"Oh!" she peeped, embarrassed that she hadn't understood her companion to be blind.

He smiled apologetically, although she sensed that he was secretly very proud of something. She supposed it was that he was able to hide his blindness so well. He certainly had her fooled!

They fell silent, and although it was not an entirely uncomfortable silence, it was long. The man eventually broke it, obviously uncomfortable with the quiet. "Why were you out in this rain? I should think it would be dangerous for a ning— for you."

She grimaced, although she realized that he could not see her reaction. "I was in an argument, and I… just didn't want to stay."

He nodded. "I see."

"How about you?" she asked, hoping it would not embarrass him if it was something to do with his disability.

"I am traveling away from home, and I needed somewhere to pass the night," he stated, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Where do you live?"

"To the west of here," he replied indistinctly, and she assumed she would get to further answer.

"Oh," she said, unsure of how to continue their conversation. "Sesshoumaru's lands?"

His head jerked up as if he was startled, and she jumped a little. "Not many humans are aware of the Demon order of things."

Kagome was a bit offended by that. Of course she knew! "I am familiar with his family," she said, "and I know a few demons of my own."

"Do you? I was always told that humans feared demons more than death itself." This was delivered with a bit of a snide attitude, which grated on Kagome a bit. Who was he to talk to her that way?

"I care for a demon kit," Kagome huffed, "and I am friends with many others. My best friend is a half-demon."

Sesshoumaru was surprised. There were not many half-breeds with friends at all, and demon kits were never taken in by any outside of their clan. It was considered the highest burden to take care of a pup that was not yours, and to take in one of a completely different species must have been a great trial indeed. Sesshoumaru cared for Rin, it was true, but a demon could easily care for a human. The other way around would be very complicated. He pondered this woman's strength.

Kagome, on the other hand, was wondering why her companion had suddenly fallen pensive and sullen. She began to worry for his mental health. Poor man, being blind must have been such a burden on his life, and here she was snapping at him! He was certainly pretty, she thought. The flickering light of the fire highlighted high cheekbones and a strong jaw. His hair was long, far longer than she had ever seen, and such a pretty, shimmering black that she longed to touch it. The way he held himself was very proud, almost regal. They reminded her of something, his speech and his posture, but she could not think of what.

"So…" she interjected, the silence having grown too long, "want some food?"

Sesshoumaru's stomach, human and determined to embarrass him, rumbled loudly in response. This was all the answer that Kagome needed, and she happily set to making them some ramen. In minutes, Sesshoumaru was salivating at the smell of the noodles softening in their salty broth, and he gladly took the cup from her, digging in heartily. This cup was magic!

The girl across from him giggled, and he looked up reflexively, mouth frozen mid-shovel. She laughed harder. It seemed as if no man in this time could eat ramen gracefully. Thinking of her friends back home, she realized that no one could. She tried to hold her giggles back, but they came spilling out of her in waves, soon becoming a full grown laugh. Sesshoumaru, overcoming his embarrassment and unable to resist the call of this girl's laughter, began to laugh, too. Their laughter rang throughout the cave, sparkling and rich, and they were soon rolling on the floor, nearly in tears.

As their glee faded and they descended back to earth, panting happily, Sesshoumaru decided that he could, indeed, have beaten this curse. Here was a woman, of unknown beauty but still definitely attractive, rolling around laughing with him on the floor of a cave for no reason at all. He simply had to avoid looking at them, and Sesshoumaru was free. He lay back and smiled widely. Perhaps there was some fun to be had in being a human. He certainly never got to laugh like this when he was being a lord.

Kagome, laying across from him, looked up to see the world's best smile stretching across his face, and she couldn't help but be awed. This was a beautiful man, grinning his ass off on the floor with her, and it was rather stunning. She felt like a character in a romance novel, sitting in a cave with a handsome stranger, sharing meals and laughter. She wondered if he was a dynamo in bed. She felt like he would be. She giggled to herself again, and he laughed aloud at the sound of it. He definitely would.

Crawling over to his side, Kagome curled up against him. He was warmer than any of the men she had met in this time, kinder and more free. It was like he was trying to enjoy every second of life, and he was carrying her along with him. She could hardly imagine Inuyasha or Miroku being so happy, or even Shippou. They were so caught up in their quests and duties and problems… and here this man was blind and happier than all of them! She did not know how he found so much joy, but she decided that she would try it. She would be brazen and willful and do what felt right, at least for tonight. And tonight she felt like kissing this man. On her way to his lips, she wondered if she wasn't a bit tipsy, or under a spell. When she arrived there, however, she tossed those cares out the window.

---

Sesshoumaru was unused to the ways of women, but he was almost positive that it wasn't in their typical pattern of behavior to kiss random strangers in caves after watching them slosh noodles down their face. That being said, he wasn't about to complain. The soft little ningen who was now straddling him and pressing herself against him like she needed him more than oxygen was curvy and small and he wanted her all to himself, curse or no curse. Gods, how he wished he could see her face right now. He pressed his lips back, letting them open a little and his tongue venture out into her mouth. She moaned. Kami, she was amazing. He had never felt a woman like this, purring and pleading for him. Even when he was a demon, and to seduce him was to win endless power, no female had ever tried to please him so hard, nor derive so much pleasure in return. He had never allowed those demonesses into his bed, for he had believed that it was below his status to allow any of that sort of business, but this rather strange ningen could come and lay between his sheets any time she wished.

He rolled her over gently so that he could dominate their kiss, her hands sliding up his back and into his hair. Oh, Kami, he had never felt hands like that in his hair. They tightened with every lick or suck, and he found his pants tightening uncomfortably in response. She was a goddess. He heard a soft rustle, and suddenly his chest was meeting bare flesh – the little sneak had been wearing his shirt, he remembered… and now she wasn't. He allowed his hands to wander towards her breasts, carefully traveling and mapping her layout for later. She was beautiful, he could feel it, and it drove him wild to be blind to her body.

"Moan for me," he whispered, begging, in her ear. "I need to hear you."

She moaned, and it sent lightning bolts through his veins to the core of his lust. He thrust against her reflexively, and she moaned again. He felt her hands leave his hair, and suddenly his hakamas were loose, then being flung to parts of the cave unknown. He froze, unsure what to do. He could not search her face for answers, and he waited for her to guide him.

"Please," she mewled, and that was enough for him. He let his hands guide himself downwards, tongue tracing a bellybutton and worshipping a hipbone before diving in to the part of her that he most longed to touch. She was tangy and wet with desire, and he moaned into her at the feel of her want. He slid back up her body and aligned himself, preparing to enter her. He eased in, meeting a slight resistance. A virgin? He cursed himself, not being able to smell her innocence. He tried to pull out, but suddenly her legs were around him and he was being pulled in deeper. They moaned in unison.

He angled himself towards the spot he knew would drive her insane, and then thrust against it. Her back arched and pulled him in tighter, and he panted into her as she screamed out for him. The pleasure and the pressure built higher and higher, and they soon exploded together in a shower of sparks. He slid out of her, tracing a hand down her chest as he kissed her lips. The fire was dying, he could feel, but he simply wrapped them in his pelt and took her to sleep with him. They would not be cold that night.

---

When Kagome awoke, wrapped in the arms of the stranger she had made love with the night before, her first thought was this:

"I am an idiot"

Her second thought was this:

"I have to get out of here."

She quickly gathered her things, stepping over the white silk and fur on the floor. She gave one last look at the man lying tangled on the floor, sleeping soundly. She kissed his forehead in thanks and departed. To stay would have been awkward and would have led to some sort of tears, for she knew she could not stay with him, and she was almost positive he would feel the same way. She looked back one last time, then slid out of the cave.

It was strange, she thought, but on that last look back his hair had looked silver.

---

When Sesshoumaru awoke, he was a demon and she was gone. He wondered if she had fled upon seeing him transform, or if she had woken up in the arms (well, arm. If there was one thing he liked about his human times it was that he had two arms.) of a demon and fled for her life. Either way, he was alone, and he was back to his usual demonic self, so things could go on the way they always had.

---

By that afternoon, Sesshoumaru knew that things could never go on like they always had. He _missed_ her. Sesshoumaru, the Inu lord of the western lands, did not _miss_ anyone. No proper lord _missed_ some random human whose face he had never seen. But there it was. A gnawing pain in his chest that made him want to curl up in a ball and savor the scent of her. Now that he had his demon nose back, he could hardly avoid the stupid scent. It was everywhere: tangled up in his hair, pressed onto his skin, and woven into his clothes. Just like he wished she was. But no, he would never find her again, because he had been too much of a coward to take off his stupid blindfold. What was a curse if he'd already found the right woman?

He decided that he would rather not go home, in case his servants identified what had happened. He also felt like he might succumb to his baser instincts and throw a chair through a window. He wanted her back, dammit!

With a quick cast of his youkai senses, he determined that no one who could judge him was in the vicinity. He looked around nervously, just in case, and then punched a tree. The tree shattered, and Sesshoumaru felt marginally better. He decided to do another one. And then another. He carried on for quite a while, then proceeded on to bigger things. The daiyoukai had quite a bit of rage to vent. To hell with being a lord.

---

About a month after her embarrassing tryst with the stranger in the cave, Kagome realized that things like this _always_ happened to her. Apparently some strange demon was running around punching the living hell out of everything it saw. Inuyasha was dragging them off to battle it, now, like they didn't have better things to do than start boxing lessons. The poor girl never got a _minute_ of normalcy. She groaned and trudged on, leading the Inutachi towards the raging aura ahead of them.

Really, was it so much to ask for a simple lost piece of jewelry or a friend who talked about you behind your back? Kagome would kill for her biggest problem to be the pile of homework she had been building since the beginning of that year. But no, here she was having confusing feelings about some random guy she met in a cave, all the while preparing to battle the Mohammad Ali of the Sengoku Jidai. It was just unfair. It's not like they spent any real time together, and she liked to think she wasn't a girl who just went for looks, but she just couldn't stop thinking about him! He was like a drug. She hoped this punchy demon would at least be a fight, so she could keep her mind off of that stupid man and his stupid hands doing all those stupid… wonderful… things.

She shook her head to clear it of the not-so-pure thoughts that had been gathering in it lately. She would need to focus to counter that massive aura.

As they approached, she wondered why something this powerful was doing any punching in the first place. In her experience, demons this powerful looked down upon physical exertion as something only the smallest of the small would resort to. They had their sharp words and youkai powers to use, and would do nothing that would force them to lose their composure. By the feel of this demon, however, this was someone very strong, and they were going ape shit.

The afternoon began to turn into evening, and suddenly a bloody cloud of bark and leaves erupted from the forest ahead of them. The demon fell to the forest floor, then scrambled to his feet, searching frantically for something to punch, when he realized who he had just come upon. His brother and his ragtag bunch of fighters. He was instantly embarrassed. He would not allow them to see him losing his comportment, of course. He straightened up, brushed the mulch off of his clothing, and looked at them with his usual icy, superior gaze.

"Yes?"

Kagome couldn't help it. She was pretty much delirious from lack of sleep, sex deprivation, and general stress, and Sesshoumaru had just come punching through the trees, covered in sawdust and glaring like an angry beaver. She burst into uncontrollable giggles, unable to shut herself up. Tears rolled down her face, and she could barely hold herself up for laughing so hard. When she finally managed to calm down enough to open her eyes, she was only sent back into fits of laughter by the sight of a ruffled Sesshoumaru looking displeased and leafy. She doubled over, clutching her stomach, gasping for air as the laughter wracked her frame.

Miroku and Sango, who were nearly as nonplussed as Sesshoumaru, glanced nervously between their friend and the demon Lord. They were quite sure that even to laugh _near_ the Inu prince was not a good plan, but to laugh directly _at_ him was most likely a formal request to die painfully. Shippou, who had been nearly deafened by the first howls of laughter, was sitting at Kagome's feet, wondering why the two auras were greeting each other like they were old friends, but he supposed that was just the way Kagome worked. Inuyasha remained markedly silent, savoring the fact that he and his brother did have some things in common after all. He would laugh later, but for now he was pretty sure that laughing aloud at an obviously embarrassed Sesshoumaru would result in pain.

On his side of the clearing, Sesshoumaru was pondering how best to separate the miko into sections when he realized that her laugh was terribly familiar. It grated on his nerves, the familiarity of that laugh. He would not kill her until he figured out—

"Oh, shit."

It was _her_. His dream woman was _right there_, laughing her ass off at him, and he was a damn fool not to have known all along that it was her.

"_I care for a demon kit,"_ she had said, _"and I am friends with many others. My best friend is a half-demon."_

How many women could he think of that that applied to? One. Her. He was a complete and utter idiot. He had slept with his brother's wench. He had, in fact, _deflowered_ his brother's wench, and he hadn't even been able to connect the dots. The annoying miko who had cost him an arm and a large amount of misery, the only woman he had ever slept with during his weak times, the only woman he could think about ever since was right in front of him, laying on the ground now, laughing like a lunatic. Right next to his brother. It was irritating to Sesshoumaru that nothing could ever go right.

"Miko," he croaked, throat sore with repressed desire and hurt pride, "cease this nonsense."

She snorted, breathed deeply, and straightened out to look at him, eyes still glimmering with repressed laughter.

"This Sesshoumaru requires your assistance."

Her eyes widened in confusion, and Sesshoumaru nearly grinned. He loved that he was able to read her, see her expressions as they danced across her face. Making love to her now would be simply extraordinary. To watch that face contort in pleasure, to flutter in sleep…

"No way, douche bag!" interjected Inuyasha, who had been learning new and exciting curses from Kagome and was enjoying using them greatly. "Kagome ain't going anywhere with you!"

"That, little brother," replied Sesshoumaru, "is not your decision."

"LIKE HELL IT ISN'T!" bellowed Inuyasha, who had quite clearly never learned anything about women, and especially not Kagome. Both Miroku's and Sango's palms met their foreheads with dramatic precision.

"SIT!" shouted Kagome, and again Sesshoumaru berated himself for not having made this conclusion before. Had she not yelled that in the forest before leaving Inuyasha?

"Who are you to say what I can and cannot do, Inuyasha?!"

"Who are you to question my decisions, wench?!"

Everyone in the clearing winced as they watched Kagome take the deadly inhale that always preceded a shouting match.

"YOUR BROTHER – SIT – ASKED _VERY_ NICELY – SIT – FOR HELP – SIT – AND _YOU_ – SIT – WANT ME – SIT – NOT TO GO – SIT – BECAUSE – SIT – OF SOME – SIT – _STUPID_ RIVALRY – SIT – THAT WILL _NEVER_ GO _ANYWHERE_! SIT! I'M _GOING_ – SIT – AND YOU – SIT – CAN'T – SIT – STOP ME! SIT!" Kagome huffed with finality, then turned away.

There was a muffled retort from the bottom of the crater, but Kagome had already slung her bag over her shoulder and walked towards Sesshoumaru. "I'll be back, guys!" she shouted merrily at her friends, and then Sesshoumaru pulled her onto his cloud and lifted off into the sky.

Miroku shook his head. "Now the only reason she's going is because Inuyasha told her not to."

Sango nodded. "I wonder what he needs her for?"

Miroku patted her bum in comfort. "We shall just have to see, my dear."

Sango growled, but didn't slap him. She was too worried about Kagome.

---

Kagome, on the other hand, was not in the least worried. There was something about Sesshoumaru's air that told her that he would not be harming her. In fact, she felt more comfortable around him that she had ever felt around anyone. He had set them down in the forest after a few minutes of flight, and he now walked ahead of her, leading her to wherever she was needed. There was something soothing in the swing of his hair, thought Kagome. She couldn't help but wonder what he needed her for. Was Rin in trouble? Was he hurt? Had Jaken gotten stuck up a tree?

She was so busy pondering these things that she did not notice that Sesshoumaru had stopped, and she ran firmly into his chest. She looked up nervously, instead falling straight into his molten gaze. Her hands had frozen on his chest, which was smooth and firm and familiar. She wondered why he felt so like… something she knew. She furrowed her brow and poked it, wondering why she knew it. Sesshoumaru chuckled lightly, and that was familiar, as well. She was so confused!

"Come, miko," he said softly, "it is only a bit further."

He held out his hand, which she took wonderingly. She had never seen Sesshoumaru touch anyone in kindness, _ever_, and it was a terribly sweet gesture. The idea that he was so ill as to be suddenly cuddly did enter her mind, but she decided that Sesshoumaru had been this nice all along, and he was just mean because of Inuyasha. The hand around hers was warm and strong, and it pulled her into a clearing where they stopped. This, too, looked vaguely familiar, and Kagome began to wonder if she was dreaming, or if déjà vu was more common when one spent all their time in the past.

"Sesshoumaru?" she ventured softly, but he continued walking for a few more steps before turning to face her.

"I am cursed," said Sesshoumaru bluntly, looking at the woman before him.

"What?" asked Kagome, irritated with her lack of eloquence.

"My people bear a curse, to be drawn to a different woman every new moon until they find a mate. But we are not ourselves. We are weakened and made to look unlike what we are, and we are left helpless and alone."

"Like when Inuyasha turns human?"

Sesshoumaru chuckled. "Does he spend the entire night attempting to ravage you?"

Kagome winced. "No, thank god."

He laughed again, more appreciatively, and Kagome again wondered why it was that this sound turned her bones to jelly.

"The last time this happened to me, I thought to trick it. I blindfolded myself and hid from the world. And I believe you know how that ended."

Kagome looked at him sharply, still confused.

He nodded up at the sky, where the new moon was rising. "You will see."

Suddenly, he was no longer Sesshoumaru, he was the man from the cave. Then, he was clearly both. She could see what she had been missing the entire time: the way he held himself, the way he spoke, the laugh, the smile that he now wore stretched across his face wider than she had ever seen.

"When I found you a month ago, I could not see who it was that I had come across, and so I shouldn't have been so wildly attracted to you as I have been to the other women I have encountered. Strangely enough, I was more attracted to you then than I would have been had I stumbled upon you in the heat of my curse."

He swiftly stepped closer to her, the heat in his veins now very hard to ignore. She was still a woman, and this was still his curse. With his original lust topping the new lust created by the spell, he could hardly resist ravishing her where she stood. Kagome, who was pulsating gently in his hands, would not have objected if he had. From the instant she realized who he was, she was gone. She wanted him.

"Because of the way we met, I could not mark you as mine during our first encounter. Will you accept me now? It is part of this curse to be rejected, so I will take 'no' if it is your answer. But know this – this curse is what leads my kind to our true mates, and it has led me to you. I could not stop thinking about you while we were apart, wishing I could have you back in my arms. Now that I have found you, I would like very much to keep you."

Kagome, who was on the verge of jumping him where he stood, drew back to look into his eyes. "I would like that very much," she said. "I think I could love no one other than you."

Now that the words they needed to say were out of the way, the two sprung into each other. Kagome leapt to his mouth with such force that he was knocked back, and he spun them and landed them delicately on the ground. His demon powers seemed to be pulsing in and out, now, and she watched in awe as his stripes appeared and then shrank. She traced his fangs with her tongue as they grew long, then retracted back to human length. She felt his claws scrape her back, then the soft brush of human fingers sooth the ache. It was sensory overload. Kagome threw her head back as he entered her, and his mouth left hers to clamp down on her neck, marking her as his. The sensation was a whole new level of pleasure, for while he rode her body she was electrified from inside as his love spilled into her veins. She let the passion overcome her, and she came in an explosion of energy that washed over him. Her aura clamped around him in the same rhythm as her body, and he felt like his entire being had come alive with nerves, each one ringing with pleasure. He exploded into her in the most mind-blowing orgasm of his life, and he fully regained consciousness minutes later, her hands still tangled in his hair even as her body converted to match his.

She was an Inu now, quite clearly powerful, and he was awed by her beauty. He was further awed when she rolled over towards him, kissed him on the lips, and said, "let me know when you're up for round two."

He wasn't sure if it could be considered romantic, but by Kami it was hot.

He said a silent thank you to everything that had led up to this moment, and for everything that would come.

He was certain it would be quite the adventure.

---

So, that's it!

This was a long one for me (at least as oneshots go…) and as usual I would love _love __**love**_ reviews (be they flames, actual constructive criticism, or the usual "OMG KAWAIII"… anything goes!).

I have a long weekend coming up, so we will see if anything else comes up!

Xoxo,

Me.


End file.
